Sunday letters: Property taxes, artificial intelligence,...

1of 5Two Texas representatives set out on a Ôbipartisan roadtrip town hallÕ while driving from San Antonio to Washington, D.C., after a blizzard affected travel plans: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso (on the right), trades off driving duty with Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican who represents Southwest Texas, including parts of San Antonio.Photo: Congressman Beto O'Rourke via FB / Congressman Beto O'Rourke via FB

4of 5Included in Robert Greenwald's documentary "Uncovered: The War on Iraq" is Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking at the United Nations in February 2003, declares to the UN Security Council that Iraq is still pursuing weapons of mass destructionPhoto: CAROLINA PRODUCTIONS

5of 5Two Texas representatives set out on a bipartisan roadtrip town hall while driving from San Antonio to Washington, D.C., after a blizzard affected travel plans: Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso (on the right), trades off driving duty with Rep. Will Hurd, a Republican who represents Southwest Texas, including parts of San Antonio.Photo: Congressman Beto O'Rourke via Facebook / Congressman Beto O'Rourke via Facebook

Property assessments

Regarding “HCAD ‘cherry-picking’ on market valuations” (Page A17, Wednesday), I just read this article and I am having the same problem. I live in a small complex with 14 patio homes all close in size and construction. The market values and appraisal values are all over the map. At my informal interview I was told that they only discuss market values and the computer weighs all the factors. I am now being scheduled for an appraisal meeting..

I believe the Chronicle needs to shine a spotlight on this issue. The Harris County Appraisal District has become a bureaucracy that seems to be controlled by no one.

Harold Rockett, Houston

Watch artificial intelligence

Regarding “A tale of two condos: HCAD’s black-box property valuations hurt homeowners” (Chron.com, Wednesday), there is a deeper legal principle at work here that will assume increasing importance over the next few years. The current exponential growth in artificial intelligence systems is largely due to significant improvements in neural net algorithms. By their very nature, neural nets are a “black box.” They are trained on a carefully vetted dataset, “discover” hidden patterns there, and then apply those patterns to real-world data, but without any way to discern why they came up with their answers.

We have already seen implicit bias (racial, sexual, etc.) introduced into these systems due to biased training sets. As these systems get used for vetting loan applications, determining bail, picking job applicants and other uses, their black-box nature will make the results very hard to challenge. Now is the time to start developing a new legal framework to deal with these issues; they are only going to become more pervasive.

Alan Jackson, Houston

Intelligence agencies

Regarding “Trump sides with Putin, casts doubt on U.S. intel” (Page A1, Tuesday), so, President Trump makes a statement that suggests he does not have complete faith in the United States’ Intelligence reports and the media goes ballistic. Is it that the Chronicle and other so-called news reporting groups are so supportive of the inerrancy of our CIA and National Security Agency?

I seem to recall a time when another president strongly defended the reports from these agencies which claimed to have evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and these same so-called news organizations did not believe them.

The question is, when can we believe the “intelligence” reports and when should we not?

Bill Pratt, Deer Park

Civility matters

Regarding “O’Rourke, Hurd win civility award” (Page A4, Wednesday), the announcement that Congressmen Beto O’Rourke and Will Hurd received the National Press Club’s “Civility in Public Life” award recognizes what a growing number of Texans know: Yes, we can live in a welcoming, civil, generous, respectful and productive society and expect our elected representatives to walk the talk. To achieve these goals, we must participate in the process.

Democracy works — and we get candidates we deserve, like Beto O’Rourke - when people participate.